Wetlands
Are Wonderlands!
Related Resources
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Wetlands
Are Wonderlands! |
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Web Links
Science for Ohio's Online Wetland Ecosystem for use during the What Food Chains Can Be Found in a Wetland? activity. Click on the icon above. For a image with example food web links, click here.
Science Clips, by the BBC, offers interactive science animations that can be manipulated by students in order to learn science content. Check out the "Habitats" science clip that relates to this inquiry.
BrainPOP.com, an award-winning site, offers original animated movies that answer kids' questions about health, science, and technology. The site provides an interactive quiz while movies load. To visit the site and watch their two minute Food Chains movie, click on the icon above. Note: This is a subscription site, but selected movies are available without a subscription.
Have your students visit Quiz Star and take the Science for Ohio Online Wetlands Quiz. Once at Quiz Star:
Click here to print a student version of the above steps that can be affixed to your classroom/lab computer(s). Click here to download a quiz results page (MS Word) that can be modified for all Quiz Star quizzes.
Protecting Your Environment: An Interactive CD-ROM (Selected for a 2001 Award of Excellence by the Environmental Education Council of Ohio) highlights steps that students, citizens and policy makers can take to reduce environmental health risks. Includes downloadable photos, video clips, and interactive windows to illustrate risks such as indoor air quality, motor vehicle pollution, ozone depletion, drinking water, abandoned industrial sites, destruction of wetlands, loss of species diversity, food toxins, and waste disposal. Ohio EPA will provide a single copy at no charge to teachers and environmental educators as long as supplies last.
The Young Scientists Introduction to Wetlands is an 11 page document that can be read online or printed and made into a booklet. This publication is produced by The Army Corps of Engineers. Click on the icon above.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has an online wetlands information page and crossword puzzle entitled More Than Just A Swamp which explains the various types of wetlands and their functions that benefit humans and other animals. Click on the icon above.
The Ponds Puppet Show is one of dozens of puppet shows you will find in Hands-On Nature: Information and Activities for Exploring the Environment with Children by The Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Assign a small group of students to create props and conduct this wetlands puppet show for the class. Click on the icon above to download this puppet show.
Dragonfly by Scott Hudson is a great sing along song to reinforce the concept of decomposition. Scott teaches science for Cincinnati Public Schools. Click on the icon above. |
Books and Other Resources
Squishy, Misty, Damp, and Muddy by Molly Cone is one of the best examples of an informational picture book I have seen. These 32 pages not only define what a wetland is, but also articulate why they are so vital to the balance of nature, and what humans need to do to protect them. A great introductory read aloud or student shelf book for any age. ISBN 0-87156-480-7 Special thanks to Jill Stegeman, Ripley High School, for sending in this book recommendation.
Squish: A Wetland Walk by Nancy Luenn uses beautiful watercolor illustrations by Ronald Himler to convey the wonderful variety of wetlands to any age. A great introductory read aloud for any age. Note: With my older students, I discuss the career of illustrator and all that goes into creating illustrations for an entire book. ISBN 0-6893-1842-1
Who Eats What: Food Chains and Food Webs by Patricia Lauber and Holly Keller uses full color drawings and clear text to illustrate the importance of food chains and food webs to humans and other animals. An excellent read aloud for the elementary classroom. ISBN 0-06-445130-5
Wolf Island by Celia Godkin uses simple, direct words and vivid full color drawings to show the balance of nature and how easily it can be changed. Use it as a read aloud and have students complete the Wetlands and Wolf Island lesson that accompanies this inquiry. ISBN 0-7167-6513-6
If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People by David J. Smith helps students to understand the world and it's complexity by imagining the world as a village of just 100 people. A wonderful read-aloud for all ages that gets students and adults alike thinking about the world with a new perspective. ISBN 1-55074-779-7
Pass the Energy, Please! by Barbara Shaw McKinney uses rhymed couplet and vivid illustrations to tell the story of energy in food chains. I read this book over several days (a section each day) at the start of science so that my fifth graders don't get rhymed out :) ISBN 1-58469-002X
Chains, Webs, and Pyramids: the Flow of Energy in Nature by Laurence Pringle is an excellent student shelf or teacher reference book for this topic. The information published in this 1975 copyright still holds true today. ISBN 0-690-00562-8
Wetlands by Darlene R. Stille is an excellent introductory book for younger readers. ISBN 0-516-21512-4
Wetlands by Ewan McLeish takes a comprehensive look at wetlands in a way that intermediate students on up can appreciate. ISBN 0-7502-1587-9
Wetlands by Peter D. Moore is a comprehensive resource for teachers or middle school students that uses concise text, photos, and diagrams to illustrate the value and purpose of the wetland ecosystem. An excellent resource for anyone wanting detailed wetlands information. ISBN 0-8160-3930-5
The Tree in the Ancient Forest by Carol Reed-Jones and Christopher Canyon tells the remarkable story of the web of plants and animals that live around a single old fir tree. You can use this book as a read-aloud and challenge your students to draw a food web that details the energy relationships described in the story as they listen. The appendix of the book offers additional valuable information about ancient forests and the wide variety of life found in them. ISBN 1-883220-32-7
Wetlands by Rose Pipes contrasts wetlands around the world in ways that young readers can clearly understand. ISBN 0-8172-5001-8
What Are Food Chains and Webs? by Bobbie Kalman is an excellent reference book or silent reading book for the elementary classroom. Special thanks to teacher Carol Ogden of Mason Heights Elementary (Mason, OH) for recommending this book. ISBN 0-86505-876-8
Wading Into Wetlands is a Ranger Rick's Nature Scope book published by the National Wildlife Federation. It contains multiple hands-on classroom activities for teachers that illustrate the value of wetlands. A must for anyone teaching an indepth wetlands unit. ISBN 0-7910-4837-3
Biosphere 2000, Third Edition by Don Kaufman and Cecilia Franz has a Wetlands section which summarizes the many benefits of wetlands and the current challenges in protecting these valuable ecosystems. ISBN 0-7872-5713-3
Enviromath:Activities to Stimulate Interest, Integration, and Inquiry in Grades K-8 by Bobbie S. Oh is a wonderful teacher resource for connecting math and science. It contains 25 inquiries including What Difference Do Wetlands Make? (K-4) and an energy pyramid activity entitled, Energy: More Power To You (5-8). ISBN 0-7872-3950-X
Project WILD by the Western Regional Environmental Education Council is an interdisciplinary, supplementary environmental and conservation education program for educators of kindergarten through high school. This book contains dozens of hands-on activities for teachers including, What Did Your Lunch Cost Wildlife? (food chains), Deadly Links (food chains and pollution), and Shrinking Habitat (ecosystem destruction).
Hands-On Nature: Information and Activities for Exploring the Environment with Children by The Vermont Institute of Natural Science is a wonderful teacher resource which contains hundreds of activities including outdoor investigations, puppet shows, and more. It is a great life science resource for the elementary classroom. Copies can be ordered at 1-800-421-1561. ISBN 1-58465-078-8 |
